the orioles are on a win, win five in a row, 7-8 and a three-game sweep in philadelphia. the orioles have been getting timely hitting up and down the lineup, especially from the lead-off man brian roberts. outstanding starting pitching over the weekend and outstanding defense and it all adds up to wins. now the birds have headed south. they're in miami for a three- game interleague series against the young and eager florida marlins. it is the orioles and marlins interleague baseball up next on masn! 

on an overnight tuesday n the birds continue their interleague stretch at landshark stadium. it is the opening game of a three-game series against the florida marlins. hi, everyone. i'm jim hunter. the orioles tonight looking to extend what would be a season high six-game winning streak, and they're doing it against the national league. in the past the interleague games have not been good to the orioles, however, that all changed last season. look at their record so far this year. 9-3 in interleague games. 75%, winning percentage, the best they have ever fared in interleague baseball. i'm joined now by buck martinez, amazingly the orioles are doing this against the national league teams, but it really shouldn't be a surprise because they're doing all of

the little things to get it done and it is adding up to a win. >> it sure is. it is just a reminder what it is like to play in the american league east because every day you have to play against a great team. over the last five games they have had multiple starts. matt wieters hit his first major league home run against the mets to win that game 6-4. the next night, bottom of the ninth, huff deliver as game- winning bates r base hit to give them the second of these five straight wins. everybody has contributed. the pitching has been outstanding. rich hill opened up the series in philadelphia with a strong outing winning 7-2. and the pitchers have contributed immensely. once again back to the hitters. brian roberts hits the second of two home runs on saturday night atwo-run shot off of brian mat soon to break the heart of the phillies' fans, sunday, back to the starting pitching, jeremy guthrie matched up very good against cole hamels and beat him 2-1. every aspect of this team's play has been very good over this five-game win streak. they have outscored their

opponents by 10 runs. they have outhit them. they're batting .324 as a team. they're pitching to a .320 e.r.a. and every single thing they have done really makes them understand how you play the game to win. defense has been exceptional. pitching has set the tone, and the hitters have had timely hitting. >> jim: the orioles have won five in a row. they have trailed at some point in each of the five games. how do you win the game ? it starts with the starting pitching and ends with the bullpen. the bullpen has been lights out. >> buck: they sure have. the bullpen has been rested f. because of that, everyone has pitched very well. george sherrill has pitched phenomenal. matt albers has been exceptional. brian bass has been their long man and even hendrickson has picked autopsy win. a 1.29'ear. we mentioned wins for bass, johnson, albers and hendrickson. no runs in his last seven appearances and george sherrill is is a perfect 11-11 in save

opportunities. >> jim: kind of amazing, the bullpen has four of those wins. the starters only three. even though the starters have been pitching much better as of late. the bullpen gets some reinforcement today in the right arm of chris ray. let's head down stairs and welcome in amber. hello, amber. >> and alberto castillo was sent down to triple-a and in his place chris ray has been recalled to help the bullpen. the word is he is back on track. he looks good, finishes on his pitches, as well as he found some consistency with that arm slot. that's what he has been looking for. in eight games in triple-a, he dropped his e.r.a. to 2.25. he struck out 13 batters and walked only four. all reports are he is ready to go here today in miami. interestingly jim and buck, with chris ray up and alberto down, this leaves the orioles without a left-handed specialist in the bullpen. jim, buck? >> jim: thank you very much, amber. you sat in that manager's chair and you have tried to jug the bullpen and the roles. is it bet tore have a left- handed specialist or a right-

hander who can get left-handers out? >> i'll take quality over a left-handed pitcher any time. i think having chris ray back will only add depth to this bullpen. mark henrikson is a long guy. i don't have any problem with danys baez or chris ray pitching against any left- hander. >> jim: tonight from muggy miami, it is the opener of a three-game series. we have overcast at the moment and we have koji uehara and we have lineups and the first pitch, coming up next! so be careful when you go out. ♪ from the degree men absolute protection line... comes new degree men v12 special edition. protection for the ride of your life.

>> orioles baseball on masn brought to you by southwest airlines. book your next trip at southwest.com. and by acura. acura advance. >> jim: back here at landshark stadium. you can see the ground is wet. about 4:00, the mother of all thunderstorms went through miami. the grounds crew did an absolutely amazing job of getting the tarp on the field

with winds up to 67 miles per hour, and the field is playable and we will have an on-time start. an amazing turn of events in the past three hours. violent tomorrow and now calm but overcast. let's get a look at the orioles' southwest airlines lineup in the opener of this three-game series and brian roberts in his usual lead-off spot. interleague play this year, brian has axeled, .312 batting average with 11 rbi's. the orioles getting ready to bat after a day off yesterday. and, block, there are really differences of opinions on whether or not a day off in the middle of a winning streak is helpful or harmful. >> buck: it doesn't hurt. they're playing so well now. you can see caesar is the tour is in the dug-out with pie. it is great to see him in the

uniform. he has not resumed baseball activities just yet, but he lives in the area and they're going to evaluate him and try to decide what the next step will be as he heads back towards activity here on this ball club. >> jim: i want to show the fans what we're talking about as the storm went through here about three hours ago. here is the grounds crew trying to get the tarp on the field. at that point the wind was winning. but they did an outstanding job to pull that tarp back. they got the tractors on the participate and kept it on the field and that kept the infield dry. >> buck: that is pretty incredible how quickly the storm came about. it was about 3:56 and it just came out of nowhere and this grounds crew has done a heck of a job to get this field ready for the start of this game. >> jim: dave trembley looking for a win to hopefully make it six consecutive wins. they're 9-3 in the national league and the orioles are now 9-9 in the many of june. >> buck: now it is time for the pnc scouting report for the big

left-hander andrew miller. he is 6'7" and comes out of the university of north carolina. he has a fastball, slider and changeup. there are many moving parts to his delivery. control can be a real concern. but when he is on and when he is pitching down in the zone, he does a heck of a job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. he doesn't give up many home runs, just two this season. he has an electric arm. the problem has been his command. he was originally drafted by the tigers. he made his major league debut with the tigers in yankee stadium a couple of years ago. and then he was traded down here as part of that dontrelle willis and miguel cabrera big trade. defensively the marlins have had problems. only two teams in the national league have committed more errors than the marlins. they have committed 56. and in the outfield is coghlan, ross and her mada -- hermida. the catcher is left-handed hitting john baker. the infield has committed 32 errors when you factor in three behind the plate for baker.

>> jim: there is fredi gonzalez, the skipper of the florida marlins doing a fine job down here as the marlins with a win tonight would get back to .500. they're at 35-36. to give you an idea of the differences, a.l. east versus n.l. east, the marlins are a game below .500 and they're only three games it of first place. >> buck: it is going to be a real log jam in the national east as there are no real clear cut favorites. even the reigning world champs are struggling there. >> jim: the fastball is in for a strike and we're underway in miami. brian's bat has come alive, especially over the weekend in philadelphia. he looks at a fastball wide to the plate. 1-1 the count. >> buck: he did a heck of a job. he had a career high tying four rbi's on saturday including the two-run game-winning home run in the ninth inning. >> jim: base hit down the left- field line and pass the dive of emilio boniface where owe and

brian is going to head to the second base and he has a lead- off double. so roberts in his first first base extends his hitting streak to five consecutive games. >> buck: 24 doubles now for brian roberts. it looked like it might have been a changeup. he was out in front of it a bit and slashes it by emilio bonifacio. the day off doesn't seem to affect brian roberts one bit. >> jim: so much for that theory. five straight games now and he gets on base. the orioles have a chance to get koji uehara the lead now before he takes the mound. nick markakis. nick is bat fling the two spot there is a pitch that is a wild pitch and that will allow brian roberts to go to third as john baker could not keep that in front of him. so the orioles now a runner at third and nobody down. >> buck: this is the problem with the young pitch here has good stuff. that ball, no chance at all for the catcher to make a play on that. john baker just couldn't do anything with it. it hit so far in important of

and wide of home plate. he couldn't even put his glove on it. >> jim: 1-0 on nick markakis. miller will stay from the stretch with roberts at third. high fly ball left field. back on it is coghlan. near the warning track and he runs it down. roberts will tag and score. that goes the sac fly and the rbi and the orioles grab a 1-0 lead. that ball was slicing away from coghlan, but he stayed with it and hauls it in for the out. >> buck: baseball can look so easy at times. lead-off double. take third on a wild pitch. the sac fly, thank you very much. markakis does a good job against the left-handed miller staying back, going the opposite way. he charges coghlan all the way to the wall in left field and roberts can jog home with the fist run of the ballgame. >> jim: so the wild pitch does hurt the marlins and andrew miller. 1-0 o's. here is jones, the number three batter tonight and it is low. adam keeping the batting

average above .300 and he play f bring as three-game hitting streak into tonight's game, 5- 13 in that stretch. there is a strike. off-speed pitch. 1-1. >> buck: that is a great sign when he continues to swing the bat. timely hits keeps his average above .500 and he is going to get hot again. but when you're an every day player, you're going to have babies and valleys. if you can keep your valleys to the point where you maintain a .300 batting average, that is a good sign you're going to be a didn't hitter. >> jim: and he has also had several infield hits during this stretch taking advantage of his speed. 1-2 the count and miller misses inside. and the count evens up 2-2. adam jones, 27 multi-hit games and leads the club for dave trembley in the multihit games. a check swing and he went around too far that is strike three. baker will pick it up and tag

adam jones for the out so there's a strikeout and two away. >> buck: aubrey huff comes to the plate with 47 rbi's. he has had big hits lately. he is currently on an eight- game hit streak. when he stays in the big part of the diamond, he is as tough as any hitter in the game. he had a big walk-off hit on thursday against the mets to win that ballgame 5-4. when he is hot, he hits anyone. >> jim: miller falls behind 1- 0. aubrey did not play on sunday, so he has had back-to- back days off. off-speed pitch. he swings through it. 1-1 the count. you were talking on sunday how with a veteran player that can be very refreshing at this time of the year when you have a team day off following a day off when you're not in the lineup. breaking ball for a strike, 1- 2. >> buck: regular players really seem to get reenergizedded when they have back-to-back off days. they play every single day and

just the rig o.s of a six-month season can wear you down. >> jim: outside, 2-2. huff with the 47 rbi's. that leads the orioles. markakis has 44. adam jones, 43. that one swept the first base. big bounce, and he takes it unassisted an the inning ends. the orioles ged a run a double awild pitch and a sac fly. we head to the bottom of the first. the orioles with a 1-0 lead. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on.

>> jim: the orioles grab a lead on the wild pitch and the sac fly and the double. here is the southwest airlines' starting lineup force the florida marlins. they come in at 35-36. coghlan, bonifacio and ramirez. happenry ramirez leading the marlins, 83 hits, 42 runs scored and 21 doubles. jorge cantu, jeremy hermida, cody ross, john baker and andrew miller. >> buck: now it is time for the

pnc scouting report for uehara. a fastball leads the way. he has a variety of pitches, but it is all about the fastball. he doesn't give up any walks. he has four walk-free starts in 11 starts this year. a cool night here in miami. it might be good results for koji uehara. everybody is a little anxious whenever that thermometer gets up over 90 degrees. it is a cool night relative to what it has been down here in south florida. >> jim: yesterday it got up to 98 degrees in miami. the sun was out the ma majority of the day and there's why it got that warm an was very muggy. when the front went through here about three hours ago, it took some of that weather with it. coghlan, 24 years old. he is a rookie.

koji misses inside, 2-1. there is the game-time temperatures, buck, for koji uehara's starts. >> buck: he had only one start in 11 where it has been 80 or higher. >> jim: roberts gets it to first and one away as chris coghlan is retired on the ground ball out. >> buck: let's take a look at the orioles defensively behind koji. this has become the every day outfield for dave trembley. on the left side it is mora and andino. robert andino anxious to play against his former team. he was a florida marlin. the rookie matt wieters is behind the plate for koji uehara. >> jim: one awe on the ground ball. here is emilio bonifacio. very familiar to masn viewers. last year with the washington nationals. he was traded to the marlins in november as pa part of that big trade, scott olsen and willingham went back to washington, d.c. he swings through and it is 0-2. the problem with bonifacio this year, buck, is he is outstanding on the bases, but he is having trouble getting on base. he can -- you cannot steal first. he's gown on three pitches. there is a strikeout and two away. two straight outs. let's head down stairs and say hell he once again to amber. >> hello. as buck mentioned, caesar izturis is back with the team. he lives in the miami area, so a good opportunity to come over and be evaluated. he did a little bit of running today. he also swung off of a tee, but he told me he is still feeling pretty weak from the a pen deck tom me he received on june 5. he is nervous to get in a full swing of the bat.

as i said, he will be evaluated an the orioles will determine what he will do, what will be the next step. we do know he will go back up north with the team, though. jim? >> >> jim: amber, thank you very much that is the first step as you get back to the team and then the baseball-related activities, rehab in the minor leagues. once you get back in game conditions, it comes back to you. this is a hard smash to andino. he plays it flawlessly. and a three up, three down inning. the orioles hold the 1-0 lead. cash flow isn't just an important thing to small business. it's everything. that's why pnc is introducing your new cfo, cash flow options designed to effectively improve your cash flow. cfo helps every dollar work harder. from the very first dollar to the last dollar of the day. get in touch with your new cfo. pnc. leading the way.

gip tonight's contestant yolanda. she has a chance to win $99 worth of american classic scratch-off tickets from the maryland lottery for every home run hit tonight. here is what you do, enter by logging on to masn sports.com. and there is caesar izturis on the orioles' bench sitting with oscar sal la star. it is good do be back the uniform and back with the teammates. here is melvin mora. ground ball towards short. hanley ramirez fields it cleanly and mora is down. one pitch, one away in the orioles' second inning. >> buck: when andrew miller gets zeroed in that strike zone, he can be a tough opponent. the interesting thing about this, this is the fourth straight left-hander the orioles have faced. they saw three in philadelphia. they will face miller here tonight and then they will face another left-hander in game three of this series in shawn west.

quite a host of left-handers they've faced recently. >> jim: ball one to nolan reimold who is in the six spot and there is a strike. 1-1 the count. there is a shard smash rite to uggla and the first two ground balls and the first two quick outs. the one thing about andrew miller, even though his e.r.a. is 4.56, he does keep the baseball in the ballpark. he has allowed only two home runs on the year. both to right-handed batters. and he has allowed only one home run over his last five starts coming into this game. >> buck: you can see the last couple of balls sharply hit. they were on the ground. you're not going to get them elevated when you're in the zone. he has pitched much better here in this ballpark.

this is a pretty good pitcher's ballpark. it is not unlike fenway park when if you keep the hitters to center and right field, you have a lot of room to pick up some outs. >> jim: matt wieters takes. 2-0, the count on matt. wieters, 1-07 -- 1-7 on the trip. he caught two of the three games in philadelphia. gregg zaun lad the huge game when he caught on saturday night. matt started friday and sunday. he is batting at .246. there is a high chopper towards third. bonifacio in to play the hop and quickly across and the orioles go three up and three down on three ground ball outs. the middle of second, and florida and koji going back to work with the lead. eal good.

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>> jim: here is a way to sa on tickets and pick up exclusively meme bee i can't. when you buy a flex pack, you save on four upcoming games of your choice including a prime game. for a limited time if you purchase two seats, you'll receive an autographed photo of nolan reimold and purchase four seats you get an autographs photo of matt wieters. go to 888-bird or just go online to orioles.com. koji uehara with the 1-0 lead. in the bottom of the fist and here is zoge cantu, the number highflba d. old$oerllin e corner and now on the warning

track. @he has it for out. and that one hit too high by jorge cantu. let's get a look at koji uehara. batting lineups the second ang  third time through the order. >> buck: the úfirst time throug the order, u can see the hitters don't know him too well. the second time they feel a little better and they have a better batting average, a third is trig o u out of  effect once he goes through the lineup three times. >> jim: and this is going to be a continuing debate until koji can get beyond that five-inning mark whether or not he is better served as a starter or maybe working out of the bullpen a couple of time as week. with those numbers, that would suggest he can give you three good energy innings. >> buck: what has happened, too, is he was brought here for a purpose and that was to be a start early in the season and just create versatility in the season. >> jim: two men down. >> buck: he's done that.

when you think aboukoji u larra, and but as the youngsters got comfortable and bergesen got off to a great start in the minor leagues, they can make that transition, call upon bergesen, insert him in the rotation and rick kranitz knows in seeing bergesen in spring training, having confidence in his composure that koji uehara, jeremy guthrie could hold dow th ortunti soeof the youngsters got innings under their belt. >> jim: two down. dan uggla. there is is a fastball for a strike. 0-1. of course if the orioles were to make any kind of a change with the role of koji uehara, somebody then would have to come over or come up and take that spot in the rotation. >> buck: i think there are a lot of possibilities and i don't think andy macphail has made up his mind one direction or the other. i think with baseball being so bunched up at the top and so many teams included in the wildcard race, there's going to be a lot of activity moving around, and rosters shuffling